RAY OF LIGHT
Happ sends Yanks to Tampa with 1st place on line
It was like watching a completely different pitcher. The J.A. Happ on the mound in the Yankees’ 3-1 victory over the Mariners Thursday evening at the Stadium, was the best version of the lefty the Bombers had seen since his first outing of the season March 31.
Happ, who’s infamous for giving up home runs, pitched a game without giving up a home run for just the second time in his nine outings this season. It was also the second game he started that he didn’t give up any runs at all.
In five innings plus one batter of work, Happ gave up just a single and walked three while striking out seven. Aaron Boone pulled Happ after he walked the first batter of the sixth inning on a 3-2 pitch that Happ argued was a strike. Adam Ottavino took over, closing out the sixth with a walk and a strikeout.
“I felt like it (four seam fastball) had a little better drive… and it was the most consistent it’s been all season,” Happ said of his improvements. “Which is a good sign for me.”
In the finale of a four-game series against Seattle, the Yankees claimed just their second series victory against a team above .500. The Yankees’ (22-15) victory, however, dropped the Mariners to 20-20. The Yankees, just a 1.5 games out of first place in the AL East, fly to Tampa to take on the first-place Rays tonight.
Most of the game went by without much noise from either offense with Happ and Seattle’s Mike Leake on the mound. The performance was also a good one for Leake, who’s been as notorious as Happ for giving up homers early in games. But he was still no match for this group of Bombers.
In the second inning, Leake gave up back-to-back singles to Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres. After flyouts from Miguel Andujar and Mike Tauchman, Cameron Maybin doubled off an 87 mph cutter, bringing Frazier in as the first run. Though exceptional in comparison to the rest of his early season, Happ was not without his mishaps, and when Dee Gordon stepped to the plate as the third batter in the third inning, he was pegged on the wrist by one of Happ’s 90-mph fourseam fastballs. Dylan Moore came in to pinch run for Gordon.
For all the Yankees’ quiet bats, none was quieter than Andujar’s. He finished the game in an 0-for-16 slump.
“He’s such a good hitter. I talk to guys and tell them it’s a tough game and he had an injury,” Boone said. “He’ll get there.”
In the seventh, Andujar was replaced at third by Gio Urshela, who would get an early test on his banged-up knee. The Mariners’ second batter of the inning, Tim Beckham, hit a ground ball that bounced up and slammed into Urshela’s gut. He jumped up to make the grab and threw to first for what looked like an easy out, but Urshela winced as he made the play.
In the eighth, with Conner Sadzeck on the mound for Seattle, Urshela hit a line-drive single to right field, driving in DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres for two crucial runs.
The Mariner bats woke up the ninth. Aroldis Chapman came in to close, entering with a 3-0 lead. But after Chapman struck out Mitch Haniger and got a groundout from Edwin Encarnacion, he gave up a home run to Domingo Santana before getting the final out of the game on a grounder.